Man charged after incident at council meeting

NEWPORT, R.I. (WJAR) — A man is charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct, and a candidate for the U.S. Senate asks questions following a Newport City Council meeting on offshore wind energy.

The man, identified by viewers of the meeting as David Booth, a field coordinator for Climate Jobs RI, can be seen taking collected turbine debris directly from the hands of Constance Gee, a member of Green Oceans from Westport, who stood up to speak.

The man is later seen throwing away the bag containing the damaged fiberglass. Gee said she wanted to show people what was believed to be the damaged turbine blade that washed ashore off Nantucket, adding that she was shocked and intimidated by what happened at the meeting.

Rep. Patricia Morgan (R-26th District) complained about an image on the campaign website of U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-I.), whom she is challenging in the election. Morgan said the attacker was prominently featured on Sheldon Whitehouse's online presence and further stated that Whitehouse should have condemned the man's behavior.

NBC 10 News reached out to the commission chairman and the moderator, but neither was willing to comment on the incident.